The oil companies must be shaking in their boots. Too bad American car makers still have not gotten the hint that Americans want fuel efficiency not a cup holder that has heating and cooling capabilities.
From The Future of Things -
The Pennsylvania based Lithium Technology Corporation recently demonstrated a new type of "plug-in" Toyota Prius hybrid car. The new model is based on advanced lithium iron phosphate battery which allows the hybrid car to travel up to a distance of 125 miles per gallon of fuel – making it possibly the most efficient mass-produced car in the world.
Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC) announced that its' new lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) technology might be incoporated in hybrid cars expected to arrive in the market in 2008-2009. The Toyota Prius demonstrated by LTC was also equipped with a "plug-in" capability which allows it to recharge using conventional power sources (such as a power outlet in the owner's garage). Currently there are no "plug-in" capable cars on the market but special conversion kits are available and a small number of people are already using them to recharge their hybrid vehicles.
Although the new long range "plug-in" Toyota Prius might prove to be even more popular than its current version (which since the launch of its second version in 2004 has sold over 200,000 units worldwide), it is still very far from breaking the world record for the longest drive per gallon of fuel. This record was recently broken by a prototype car built by a team from St. Joseph La Joliverie University in France, which set an astonishing record of 7,148 miles per gallon of fuel (3,039 km per liter).
More information on the new lithium iron phosphate battery technology can be found on the LTC website.
